., a potential crisis over the debt ceiling. looks like it will be averted, at least until the spring. the republican-controlled house passed a bill allowing the government to avoid default and continue borrowing money and paying its bills until may. it also requires lawmakers in both chambers to pass a budget if they actually want to keep getting paid their salary. with the senate set to sign on house speaker john boehner credited the bill for forcing the democrats' hand. >> after four years i'm glad the senate has finally decided to act. because there is no indication that we're going to do a budget until we announced last week that we were going to move this bill that said pass a budget or no pay. >> paul ryan wears that orange tie a lot. boehner wears that green tie quite a bit. the democrat-controlled senate has not produced a detailed budget in 1,366 days. yesterday democratic leaders said the measure is actually a victory for the president. >> i'm not sure what happened at the house republican retreat last week, but it su